Last night, Marty Allen, the Grand Prize winner in our Mobile App Contest powered by Cricket got to fulfill his prize, going out to dinner with Gonzalo Segares and Daniel Paladini at Vapiano in Lincoln Park!

Check out a couple photos from dinner and be sure to download the club's new and improved mobile app, available on iOS and Droid by visiting www.chicago-fire.com/app.

As I was going through my post-game audit of stats (yes I think every Sr. Content Producer does this), I found that Gonzalo Segares is coming up on another career milestone.

About this time last year, Sega had appeared in his 200th competitive match for the Men in Red and a month ago, it was his 200th MLS regular season match but this statistic wasn’t of the appearance variety but rather of the disciplinary.

Segares was shown a 61st minute caution in Saturday’s 3-2 win over New England, getting him to 50 all-time yellow cards in his Fire career (MLS Regular Season) and leaving him just one away of equaling the club’s record holder, C.J. Brown who racked up 51 yellows in 296 MLS appearances.

I of course tweeted about this and never too shy, @SuperSega13 sent this response:

@JefeCrandall what an honor. It has cost me a lot of money. Anything for the team.

UPDATE! Upon further review, an inconsistency existed in Elias and Opta's stats. Elias listed Segares with six yellow cards in 2013 but as I looked at the MLS Disciplinary Report this morning, I saw him with seven. After some quick deduction, I realized Elias (and hence myself) failed to count Segares' 86th minute yellow card in the July 3 match vs. San Jose.

This means Segares actually tied Brown's club record on Saturday. Perhaps this tweet from @WhereisHawkins in response to the one above from Gonzalo is even more fitting now...

Important to note that Gonzalo is on Caution Watch, so breaking the record this season isn't a necessity...

Austin Berry has played every game...

...since his memorable debut in the team's comeback win at Chivas USA on May 4, 2012. You remember that one -- Berry, was plugged into the lineup next to Arne Friedrich after Jalil Anibaba earned a one-game suspension in the previous match.

Berry conceded a penalty kick to Alejandro Moreno in the 23rd minute only to pull it back on his own two minutes later before Marco Pappa's late strike sealed the three points for the Fire in LA.

Well, maybe you already knew this but Austin Berry hasn't missed a competitive game since, playing 62 consecutive matches as of Saturday night. That number includes all five of the team's Open Cup games as well as last year's playoff match vs. Houston.

The only games he has missed? Friendlies against Santos Laguna in 2012 and Club America this past July.

#Fitness #Longevity #NoCardTrouble

Baky and Sean to 100 Appearances?

Maybe its a bit premature but thought this would be interesting as well. Sean Johnson hit 100 competitive appearances for the Fire in his return from Gold Cup duty in the team's 2-1 win at Philadelphia on August 3.

Should they play in the remainder of the Fire's Regular Season matches this season, he and teammate Bakary Soumare will hit another century milestone.

For Johnson, the season finale at New York would be his 100th MLS appearance for the Fire while Soumare, who spent three and a half seasons away from the club, would hit his 100th competitive appearance in the match.

Yellow Card Watch and U.S. National Team callups be damned!

The Centerback: Fire find themselves in playoff place ahead of Crew clash

In society we all can't agree on everything, but there is one thing we can all agree on... Everything is better in slow motion.

This week we caught two goals on our "behind the net" cameras. First we have Mike Magee's perfectly timed run to give him his 16th MLS goal on the season. And if that wasn't enough, we also caught Alex's #BRAZILIANT shot from distance to put the game away.

So now we have a different sort of perspective. Now suddenly the Fire are sitting in a playoff spot. Now the fight has paid off and the double comeback on Saturday night has everyone high and talking about “attitude” and “mentality” and there’s a different feel. Can you tell? Off-field issues, on field disappointments, coaching decisions, refereeing - it all feels a little irrelevant right now.

Now the approach is different. Now the Fire have in some way reached their goal, they’ve come back and got into a playoff spot. Now the team has a little momentum again, a little confidence, a little faith in this season’s various experiments.

Suddenly the Arevalo Rios/Jeff Larentowicz partnership looks as good as the Alex/Larentowicz partnership, while Alex has excelled as a utility attacker (center/left/right) off the bench or filling in for Rios on international duty.

Juan Luis Anangono finally finished and is beginning to look like a player you would spend transfer dollars on, while some healthy competition between Patrick Nyarko, Dilly Duka, and Joel Lindpere for outside midfield spots will only push them more and mean more service for Anangono.

Suddenly, the Fire look like a deep, experienced, full squad that can bring players like Chris Rolfe and Logan Pause off the bench if need be.

I just mean to say that the feeling after a dramatic and total team victory like Saturday’s is so much different from the panic, terror, and anger that fans felt on and off for most of the season. Toyota Park was more energized after Alex’s goal on Saturday than at any other time all year.

It feels like some fans and commentators have been calling games “must win” for the Fire since the spring, in a way that - deserved or not - everything felt like it was on the edge of a complete and utter disaster. That’s sports, especially in Chicago, but now that a goal’s been reached, there’s a feeling that you could almost call pride, back again.

So forgive us, playoff gods, for looking to the calendar because, as Mike Magee said Larentowicz told the team down 2-1 at halftime on Saturday, “the season gets shorter and shorter now and business has to be done.”

How will the team deal with being in 5th place looking down, instead of the other way around?

The Fire still have to improve on their away form if they’re going to hold their position despite tricky trips to Columbus, RFK, and Dallas, before finishing the season at first place New York. And the Fire still have to take the seemingly easier points against Toronto and DC. But it’s just six games and they hold their own destiny.

We know the playoff spot is the Fire’s to lose, and the fans can sense that this team, with its three different phases this year, and its hot streaks and cold streaks and other hot streaks and other cold streaks - this team might just have found enough consistency to not only make the playoffs but, well, if it was too early to panic about making the playoffs, it’s probably too early for the overly optimistic thoughts too, right?

Ben Schuman-Stoler is a contributor to Chicago-Fire.com. Follow him on Twitter @bsto.

“I thought the mentality and the attitude was incredible for the team. Most important thing is that you have a good locker room. It was one of those games that when you think of the history of the team this is one of the games that’s out there. Coming from behind and never giving up and creating chances. It was an exciting game, not so much for the coaches.”

On the players possibly being tired from being on the road

“The difference with this is that we played two on the road. The guys were fatigued so we have to make some changes. We had a game plan going in but the last ten minutes we felt like the game was open. Alex obviously gives us a lot in possession, but he is also very good in tight areas. All of the subs and all the players on the field did fantastic tonight.”

On being in playoff position

“We had a slow start with some of the injuries. I just think that the team never gave up. We fought hard. The changes we made helped on and off the field. The group has the right mentality. You want to be right there in the end and we are right there, so there is a lot to play for. We are very excited to be in the position. The guys have earned it with all the hard work. We are not happy where we are but it is a step to where we want to be.”

On changes he would make to the defense

“It seems like this ref missed every single call for us. They got a play out of nothing that’s why I was frustrated. It’s never easy giving up a goal in the forty-fifth minute. I told the group that it’s good to play with emotions but you have to keep it under control not to do anything silly now. We just kept playing and came out with a lot of energy.”

On changes to the starting lineup

“One of the reasons, I said it’s the third game within a week. We monitor the recovery of some of the guys with the technology that we have. The thing with this is that we traveled. Some of the guys were fatigued obviously we can’t make changes for everyone. What you saw tonight is that we have a good group and everyone is ready to contribute to play.”

Mike Magee Chicago Fire forward

On Alex’s goal

“My reaction was at first I was about to go nuts, but then I looked at him and thought it didn’t go in because he didn’t celebrate. I was in extreme disappointment and then went nuts again. It was amazing. We’ve been trying to get that type of goal at the end of a game for a while now, and now that it’s finally come at such an important time feels massive.”

On the win taking some pressure off

“For sure [it takes the pressure off]. This is probably our third chance at trying to get a win and move into the top five, it’s nice to get that weight off of our back after all the work we’ve done just to put ourselves into a top five spot. To get over the hump is a big step.”

On the locker room at the half

“I thought it was good. Jeff [Larentowicz] came in and said a few words, but I just got the impression that everyone knew what was at stake and it wasn’t one of those times where we were all disappointed that we gave a goal at the end. We had the mentality that we were going to get it back. It was a good quiet half.”

On Juan Luis Anangono’s play

“He was involved in a big way. His goal was huge to tie it up the first time and helped on my goal tied it up the second time. He put his body in front of a defender who was just going to clear, to shield it just so I have a chance. If he doesn’t do that I’m not scoring a goal. He was great today.”

On scoring his 10th goal with the Fire:

“The win means everything. I’m not going to start goal counting, not just yet. To get that win, the tying goal and to help the team is better than 10 goals.”

Jeff Larentowicz, Chicago Fire midfielder

On what he said to the team at the half:

“I said we’re down a goal and we can’t treat the second half too lightly. It’s basically 45 minutes to keep ourselves in it. Every week the season gets shorter, obviously, and the chances to get into the playoffs and make a push become less and less, so I just said to make sure the last 45 minutes to give it their all.”

On the frustration at the end of the first half:

“I wouldn’t say it was frustrating, they just made a good play. It’s frustrating to be down 2-1, but the team responded well in front of our fans, in front of our crowd – they kept us going and we pushed until the end. I thought it was a great effort.”

Juan Luis Anangono Chicago Fire forward:

On his first goal with the Fire:

“I’m very, very happy with the goal. I’m very happy with the consistency of the team and I’m happy with the work that was done on the field to come back and get the win tonight.”

On his involvement in the game:

“It always takes a little bit of time to get acclimated to a new lifestyle, but I thank everyone here at the Chicago Fire and Section 8 supporters because they’ve been so great to me. Every day I feel better and more involved with the team and it shows with my performance on the field.”

On his role Magee’s goal

“I was trying to shield the defender so that pass wouldn’t get blocked and Mike could come in and just tap it in. Luckily it worked out and Mike could score for the team.”

For all the talk of the Fire’s possession problems, you wouldn’t have known it in the first 20 minutes of Wednesday night’s game in Toronto. The Alex/Jeff Larentowicz partnership hummed along like it did during the squad’s hottest streak this year, a fresh looking Patrick Nyarko did his havoc-creating thing, and it all culminated with a deserved goal.

Of course, at the final whistle it was obviously a shame they didn’t get one or two more during that period. But that’s what this Fire does. They pull off the tough results and tend to drop the seemingly easier ones. Even on short rest, away from home (where they’ve struggled all year), Toronto was the perfect opponent.

And in the first 20 minutes, the Fire pretty much had their way with the ball and the field, pressing hard to win it up field, running off each other -- it was yummy. It’s hard to pick one sequence but there was one down the right side in the 15th minute I loved. The Fire won the ball and played a couple fast one-touch passes before Nyarko just missed Chris Rolfe, wide open past midfield. It didn’t come off, but just look at the wide open spaces in TFC’s team shape.

TFC started bad. Really bad. They misplaced more balls than a dog with amnesia and the Fire took all the space they wanted. It was a veritable buffet for Rolfe, Dilly Duka, and Mike Magee, enjoying constant service from midfield as well as the enterprising Gonzalo Segares.

TFC’s goal shouldn’t have been the last goal of the game but it was and thankfully other results held up so the Fire are still in perfectly okay position for the playoffs. They need to pick up points down the stretch, yeah, but they’re all of one point out of fifth with seven games to play. I still don’t understand the doomsayers calling the season off already.

If the 14th minute, free-flowing Fire example showed everything this team can be when it flows right, Quincy Amarikwa’s 78th minute chance showed what’s sometimes dispiriting about them. They let points get away from them.

Off a TFC attack, Magee got the ball in his own half and turned through the midfield to play Rolfe, who spotted Amirakwa’s dash inside. It was a great run because he timed it later than Juan Luis Anangono’s, which was a bit too early so his defender could recover before Pause pushed close enough to goal.

Amarikwa’s run came directly in front of his defender, giving Pause the angle and target he needed, and Quincy was in. He had the choice of laying off for Anangono, who was beyond the goalie and just a simple touch away from giving the Fire the lead, but he went himself. Against his own team, in on goal, Amarikwa went himself and shot right at TFC keeper Joe Bendik. Anangono (and Fire fans) were furious.

It’s not outrageous for a striker in that position to go himself; actually, it’s probably the right thing to do versus risk an extra pass. But it was a moment the Fire couldn’t quite grasp, the kind of moment they’ll need to in the next seven games if they’re to keep their season going into the playoffs.

“I think against Seattle we played well. It’s unfortunate to drop points. I thought we started the game really well, we got the goal but a silly play, a mistake, and they got momentum and we allowed them back into the game a little bit and it became difficult. We were not able to get on the ball and calm the game down a little bit and it became a little bit more of an up and down game. I thought we had opportunities to dictate the tempo better and hold the ball and then we just forced it. In the second half it was wide open a little bit. The last ten minutes I thought, with the changes, we got into the game and had some opportunities, we pushed the game. We knew that out of the two games that we needed points. Saturday is going to be a big one – we need to get the three points at home.”

How concerned are you with the team’s inability to finish games when you have the lead?

“You got to get the second goal in this league – it’s crucial. That is what we talk about all the time. I think in Seattle we didn’t have very many chances in the second half. I think tonight we had a couple we just got to find a way to get that second goal because then you can put teams away. I think we do create chances but we got to find a way to get that second goal and just limit our mistakes late.”

Do you still feel like your team’s playoff destiny is in your hands?

“Yes, for sure. With the slow start we had I think we made up a lot of ground. Right now we are right there. With this league, we just want to be in a position where we are playing in the post season. It’s great if you can be in first but we want to put ourselves in a spot where we can play for something and we are right there. It really is in our hands. We are just going to have to regroup and get ready for a big game Saturday because then you get three points there and we are right there.”

Dilly Duka, Chicago Fire Midfielder

Thoughts on your goal

“Well I received the ball in the midfield, was driving a bit. I noticed that Mike (Magee) was going to make run at the time so I just tried to chip it in there. I got it in there I was a little fortunate that it bounced by the keeper and Mike and it went in. There was nothing to it, we all saw what happened.”

On the play of Toronto FC in the second half

“I think we put all the pressure in the first twenty, we got a goal, and then we stopped. If you let a team play they are going to play and they came back and scored a quick one right after and we were on our heels for the rest of the half. These games matter, especially if we are going to make it into the playoffs. We are going to need more energy.”

Psychologically, how tough are these games?

“It’s tough but we’ve got to try and look at the positives in those games and build. We just got to keep our guys healthy and look for the next one. It hasn’t been an easy stretch, we’ve played some good teams. And even though Toronto is at the bottom of the table they still compete with the best of them. We have a home game against New England, they are a good team and we just got to have energy for 90 minutes and keep it positive.”

Mike Magee, Chicago Fire Forward

Psychologically, how tough are these games?

“It’s been frustrating over the last stretch of games. It feels like every game we have the inability to score two goals and the inability to get a shutout. Playoff teams get shutouts and playoff teams put teams away so we’re not doing it on either end. It’s a lot of bad feelings after games to say the least.”

How would you assess how you guys played today?

“It’s not good enough. Like I said, we score a goal and we kind of go back into our shell which has been a reoccurring theme with us. We tend to get up a goal, and we play, well and then we don’t know how to manage it. We create some chances and don’t put teams away. Like I said we are in a frustrating stretch right now but at the end of the day we are one point out of a playoff spot so we can’t keep our heads down even though that is the feeling.”